At least eight people were killed and 37 injured in a traffic accident in east China's Zhejiang Province Monday, local police said Tuesday.

A 51-seat bus carrying 43 people smashed through a highway guardrail after it collided with an sedan carrying two people on a highway in Jiaxing City at about 9:25 p.m..

The two vehicles rolled five to six meters down the roadside before coming to rest, leaving three men and five women dead and 37 others injured. All the injured were rushed to hospital. Seven of them are in a critical condition.

The drivers of the vehicles have been detained by police.

Further details were not immediately available.